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Short Sale offer just sitting...

short sale offer has been sitting on the table for a month- no response from banks according to LA - what next?

Lynn Dachisen, REALTOR®

Keller Williams Towne Square Realty

24 Claremont Rd

Bernardsville, NJ 07924

908 256-0508 (Cell)

908 766-0085 (office)

http://www.BestBuyNJHomes.com

dachisen@gmail.com

Posted by Lynn Dachisen on 05/11/2008 09:12 AM

Comments (11)

Post is included in group: Keller Williams 'Rainers

11 Comments on Short Sale offer just sitting...

MAY

2008

You have two choices, you can keep on waiting or move on.

Welcome to the world of short sales. They take time. Are market is saturated with them and we have new rules in place because of them. It depends on how your contracts are structured if you can just walk away.

Matt's advice is right on the money, except that Id do both, While waiting for a response from the bank, Id be showing my client other properties too (and making other offers). There is nothing worse than waiting and waiting only to be rejected when the answer finally comes.

Have you done your due diligence in asking questions of the listing agent? Questions like: Are there two liens/mortgages on the property? (It looks like it, from your post, but you've given us only a little info.) Are there contractors' liens or HOA liens? Is an attorney involved as yet? Does the listing agent have releases of information to even talk to the lenders/lienholders? Does the Seller have an actual hardship so they have a snowball's chance to even qualify for a short sale (or is it a second home or investment property that turned out to not be a good investment)? Do you have a short sale clause in the contract. Have both parties (Seller and Buyer) signed the contract? OR, did the bank request/require just the Buyer's siggies and any/all offers be submitted as highest and best without the Seller's siggy? Heather J. above is in my market and our MLS has made MANY recommendations re: how to deal with short sales. Has the file been assigned a Workout Specialist? Has the Workout Specialist ordered a BPO on the property as yet? How close is the BPO to the offer? Is the Buyer well-qualified? Are they cash Buyers? Is the Buyer fully approved? If they are only pre-qual'd, the bank may request they be fully approved subject to...

At any rate, good luck with getting it through. In our area, less than 10% (usually 2$-5%) actually go through to closing. Most wind up in foreclosure.

Short sales are like drugs. The answer is "just say no!" Rather that wait for an answer, I'd be spending all my time trying to get them into another listing that you can sell today. You may very well wait anther 2-4 weeks to even get an answer.

short sales are very diffcult..can take 2-4 months..and then the bank will probably counter higher than the listing price..show bank repos instead-much easier..

Wait, but keep showing.

My last one went to closing, but it took us 6 weeks to get approval. As it was, we were waiting on the short sale approval letter at the closing!

I've got one in as well that has been in since march 17th and they are just now reviewing it and requesting the preliminary HUD. I work the with LA and can verify she called every single day and was told variations from "We rearranged the dept and it has a different processor now," "our computers have been down today, call back next week", and "nope, no news, try back in ten days."

It's extremely frustrating. She told them repeatedly in writing and by phone, to do an interior appraisal, not an exterior. So what did they do? An exterior. Which of course showed the home was worth way more. The inside is totally trashed and practically uninhabitable due to a very leaky roof. So that delayed us another 2 weeks.

all great advice!

Are there two liens/mortgages on the property? YES Are there contractors' liens or HOA liens? HAD A TITLE SEARCH DONE- 2 BANK LIENS Is an attorney involved as yet? WILL BE SOON- NEXT STEP, AS IT'S THE ONLY WAY I KNOW TO GO AROUND THE AGENT - AGENT WOULD NOT SUPPLY BANK INFO SO HAD TO GET IT MYSELF. Does the listing agent have releases of information to even talk to the lenders/lienholders? YES - NO ATTORNEY ON OTHER SIDE- GOING SOLO AS THEY HAVE LOST SO MANY BUYERS OVER THE PAST 9 MONTHS Does the Seller have an actual hardship so they have a snowball's chance to even qualify for a short sale (or is it a second home or investment property that turned out to not be a good investment)? YES, AND NOW LIVE OUT OF THE COUNTRY Do you have a short sale clause in the contract. DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS Have both parties (Seller and Buyer) signed the contract? OR, did the bank request/require just the Buyer's siggies and any/all offers be submitted as highest and best without the Seller's siggy? LATER 3 OFFERS WERE PRESENTED AT SAME TIME, AGENT'S OWN OFFER IS IN THERE AS WELL Heather J. above is in my market and our MLS has made MANY recommendations re: how to deal with short sales. Has the file been assigned a Workout Specialist? BANK HAS JUST BEEN RE-ASSIGNED AS OF APRIL- NEW FLUNKIES WHO DON'T CARE ARE TAKING THEIR TIME - BPO HAS BEEN ORDERED, BUT NO CONFIRMATION OF WHAT HAS BEEN DONE IN PAST WEEK - OFFER HAS BEEN OUT THERE FOR A MONTH NOW Has the Workout Specialist ordered a BPO on the property as yet? How close is the BPO to the offer? LAST BPO IN JAN WAS $35K OFF OF BEST OFFER Is the Buyer well-qualified? YES Are they cash Buyers? NO Is the Buyer fully approved? PRE-APPROVED If they are only pre-qual'd, the bank may request they be fully approved subject to...

Waiting on a short sales can be tough for an anxious buyer. The questions that others have given you are ones that you need to go back to that agent with if you didn't ask them already. One of my short sales listings went within 48 days. I have one now that is on day 37 and the problem seems to be the value from the BPO which was done within 14 days hasn't make it to the "system" yet. As a result we are hung up getting to a negotator. We had three offers and the first one has dropped out. Make sure the agent is calling the lender at least once if not twice a week to see what the hang up is.

Since it costs banks to foreclose, why don't the banks do their best to get the props sold so foreclosure doesn't happen? I understand that the "worker bees" just don't care, but don't the have to answer to a higher authority?

I was going to suggest for my buyer to hire his attorney to bypass the agent and speak directly to the bank - he is approved and can be ready to move in 30 days. Any comments on this?

We had a short sale that took 3 months just to get an answer from the bank. Every short sale is different, so there is no cookie cutter answer for you. Just make sure that your buyers understand the short sale process and that even after all of the waiting the bank may say no to your offer.

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